A look inside Valve’s first Steam Machine

The concept of a Steam Machine dev kit sounds a bit odd, at first. After all, this is the modular console that’s partially defined by not having a single, unchanging development standard. Sending out test models of the controller seems to make sense, and certainly SteamOS and related software needs testing, but this hardware dev kit is literally just a gaming PC in a special case. Having a dev kit is presumably more for the developers of SteamOS than for developers of software for SteamOS; Valve itself calls the machine a “reference design.” Still, 300 lucky beta testers have started to receive their kits and (beyond being a free computer) it could give fans some insight into just what an average Steam Machine might look like. More importantly, this hardware release has led to more specific information about SteamOS and the software side of things.

First off, the box (pictured above): It’s reportedly powered by an Intel i7 CPU. The clock speed is unspecified, but based on earlier reports it’s likely the 3.4 GHz Core i7-4770. Nvidia’s 3GB GTX 780 card handles video, and while the total system RAM is currently unknown it’s presumably somewhere between 6 and 10GB, to keep it in step with consoles. These specs put the dev kit comfortably in the middle of the power spectrum for Valve’s next great venture, somewhere between an indie-only casual gaming box and a super-computing monster that lives to render poorly optimized eastern European titles. Though the specifics will be handled by third-party hardware makers, Valve fully expects Steam Machines to offer that extreme level of variety.

Importantly, you could theoretically purchase the former, wimpy machine, then periodically upgrade to the latter, beastly one. The prototype unit allows swapping of every part, and it’s inherent to the whole thesis of Steam Machines that doing so be quick, easy, and utterly idiot-proof. The dev kit has no optical drive of any kind, which makes sense given Valve’s commitment to digital delivery. While we still don’t know the precise steps involved in upgrading a Steam Machine, you don’t need to worry about breaking out the soldering iron or thermal putty any time soon.

Every Steam Machine will ship with a Steam Controller — the result of several years of intensive prototyping. That means not only that developers can rely on users having Steam’s unique input device, but that the console’s own functionality can require it. As a mouse replacement, the Steam Controller’s trackpad has received positive reviews — certainly, more-so than it has as a controller for shooter games.

On the software side, the big news is SteamOS. Being just a dev kit, it’s too early to really pass judgement on the software’s suite of features, but anyone who has tried out Steam’s Big Picture mode will feel immediately at home. The functionality is limited — Netflix, Hulu, and other streaming services have yet to be integrated — but there’s currently no telling what might be added later. At present, basic media playback is locked off, and users can’t even directly browse their files. The latter of these two restrictions might actually be by design and stay with SteamOS until launch.

Valve’s Steam Controller prototypes

At present, we really don’t know just how much Valve wants the Steam Machine to replace the conventional PC. It seems unlikely that it would purposefully keep dedicated SteamOS machines from being as versatile as a regular PC running Big Picture — at that point people might start loading a Steam Machine with Windows and running games in regular old Steam. Given Valve’s historical commitment to tinkerers and enthusiasts, it seems likely it’s still just trying to figure out how to implement these things, and whether it can afford the support calls that come with them.

There is still much to be learned about Steam Machines. Nobody has yet seen game streaming in action, a feature which may well turn out to be the most revolutionary part of all of this. We’ll be learning about the upgrade process, the features of the OS, game performance across different builds, and more over the coming months and years.